Race for Tyler Bozak in the Final Stretch

The Tyler Bozak “Sweepstakes” are nearly coming to an end and according to Bob Mckenzie, the talented young forward from the University of Denver may make his decision as early as today after much speculation that he was supposed to sign yesterday. Apparently, the 23 year old Regina, Saskatchewan native has narrowed down his list to 3 or 4 teams, with Toronto and Ottawa believed to be among the finalists.

The third team that seems to make sense would be the Colorado Avalanche, whom are said to also be in hot pursuit. The thinking here is that Bozak may have grown comfortable playing in the Denver area, where he has blossomed over the past two years. However, with Stastny, Sakic, Arnason, and Hensick already lining up down the middle, it stands to reason that there wouldn’t be as much guaranteed playing time to go around as in Toronto where young players have been getting increasingly larger roles, or in Ottawa, whom have lacked quality depth down the middle.

From Mckenzie’s blog:

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“The Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators are two of those teams that are squarely in the mix for Bozak’s services.

He’s been in Toronto since Monday and was actually on the phone today, calling individual teams to say thank you for the offer but I’m no longer interested.

The Philadelphia Flyers were one of those teams to be on the receiving end of those calls.”

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Whatever the case, Bob figures this issue to be resolved fairly soon and his guess is that the young Canadian comes back home across the border.